Reverbed Achers assignment

While his work looks a bit weird, and might not be taken as seriously as he likes, Reverand Ethan Acres makes some interesting pieces of art. They could be considered pieces of junk, as he himself says he’s a thrifty person and tries to save money where ever he can, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not an artist. One the one hand, He tries to get people to enjoy god and religion, usually avoiding fire and brimstone like sermons in favor of happier aspects of God and Christ, so to speak. While on the other, he does want his work taken seriously, as it’s meant to have his audience think and wonder about things, as he likes it when his art or sermons stir people up, as he says. Quite a few critics and artist think he’s poking fun at religion with his pieces, but he strongly denies this, saying he means no offense to his religion at all. He reminds me a bit of Richard Serra, both seeming to make pieces that want the “throw the audience off center” to intentionally make them view their world differently, or like the videos of Pipilotti Rist, both having pieces that start out, or are first seen as, fairly funny, but as the audience watches on, they see that there is a serious message and tone to thing. He does preaches different passages from the bible in different ways, such as locusts that have toy stinger missiles, dog tags, and military helmets and another with stitched together pink vinyl car seats into pigs with glowing red eyes and twitching tongues.  While at the same time he does sermons that seem to be works of performance art, such as his one called Ultraman, where he preaches about another verse in the bible, yet replaces words and names with things from the T.V. show, making it relatable to something fairly modern to people so as to keep the attention of his congregation. He knows that he’s not a particularly popular artist or preacher, both worlds seeing him as too jolly, or maybe too “out there”, and he knows if he were to be as Buddhist, or turn to more traditional Christian preachings, he would be embraced easily by both of the worlds he walks in. But he prefers to do things his way, happily taking about his own short comings as opposed to demeaning others for theirs, most of the time counting himself among the sinners of the world for his occasional over indulgence in things, but still this makes him stand out, showing him off as one as a person who realizes his faults, admits them, then tries to help others either with memorable sermons or pieces of art made with twenty five plastic deer and Wal-Mart fans.